Diego Larrosa

Name: Diego Larrosa

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: 12th

School: George Hunter High School

Hobbies and Interests: Writing, reading, gardening, cooking, browsing the Internet, Filipino culture

Appearance: At 5’3” and 109 pounds, Diego presents a thin, unimposing figure. He goes to the barber twice monthly to maintain his short back and sides haircut, with his straight black hair swept to the left when it grows long and starts hanging over his eyes. His wide, round brown eyes are framed by thick eyebrows, curly eyelashes, and dark gray eyebags. He has a prominent, droopy nose and pointy ears. His lips are plump. Despite both of his parents being Filipino, his skin is pale. His oval face is dotted with blemishes, especially around the chin and upper lip which he shaves clean.

Diego’s attire is rather unremarkable. This is both by design and circumstance, as he usually cannot afford flashy clothes. He makes a point to never wear sleeveless shirts or shorts, so his outfit is usually a combination of T-shirts, long-sleeved shirts, and jeans. His shirts tend to be inoffensive, with plain but not attention-grabbing designs, and he has no ripped jeans in his wardrobe. The only pair of shoes he owns is a somewhat worn-down pair of black sneakers. In addition, he wears a silver cross necklace gifted to him by his mother. He is not religious, but it has great sentimental value to him.

When gardening, Diego wears one of three white long-sleeved shirts he bought specifically for the occasion, old jeans, sneakers, and rubber gloves. On the day of his abduction, Diego wore his necklace, a plain dark blue T-shirt, black jeans, a belt, and his sneakers.

Biography: On December 20, 1999, Diego was born to Armando Marquez and Luzviminda Larrosa in Chattanooga, the youngest of two children. Armando and Luzviminda were both Filipino immigrants that worked blue-collar jobs, with Armando being a construction worker and Luzviminda being a housemaid. They met in a local Filipino restaurant in 1994 and quickly hit it off. Luzviminda had liked Armando for his sense of humor and generally positive demeanor while Harold had liked her for her headstrong personality. They moved in together in a small apartment by a few months after they met.

Two years after they met, Luzviminda gave birth to their first child, Sarah. Her pregnancy had been unplanned, and she and Armando were not married yet, but as both of them were devout Catholics, they opted to keep the baby. This caused much controversy with both of their families due to Sarah being born out of wedlock. With Armando, it simply resulted in more arguments over the phone, as he was his family’s sole source of income and they couldn’t afford to disown him. In Sarah’s case, it resulted in her being cut off from the family, as she had gone to America of her own volition, and her family saw this as a realization of their fear of her losing her way.

Both of these events caused significant turmoil between Armando and Luzviminda. Their salaries were barely above minimum wage and were already strained by Armando having to send money back to his family, so the presence of a child added several expenses which they couldn’t afford, forcing them to rely on food stamps. While they tried to stay strong for the sake of Sarah, her presence caused them to slowly but surely drift apart. Armando leaned more into his work while Luzviminda doted on her daughter. The time they spent together was mostly silence, punctuated with the occasional argument. The two blamed each other for the circumstances they had fallen into, and the poor lifestyle they were leading.

Diego’s arrival into the world had also been unplanned. Under significant pressure from his family, and as a result of their deteriorating relationship, Armando broke up with Luzviminda a few months into her pregnancy.

As Armando disappeared from their lives at a very early age, his absence has had little to no effect on Sarah, and initially, this was the case for Diego as well. Up to now, little to no mention is made of him in the house, and his absence is simply an accepted fact. Luzviminda, on the other hand, harbored a strong resentment towards him, but she channeled this rage into working harder for her children and striving to live better, as she considered this the best form of revenge. She took on two more jobs to make up for the budget deficit brought by Diego’s arrival and Armando’s departure. Diego and Sarah were left at daycares or trusted friends and neighbors during the days while Luzviminda worked. To make up for the lost time, Luzviminda showed as much love and affection as she could to her children, and would often spend weekends playing with them at playgrounds.

Part of this bonding time that Luzviminda spent with Diego involved her reading him to sleep. This would spark a lifelong interest in reading, as Diego was fascinated with the different universes these reading sessions would take him to. In elementary, he would spend a lot of his free time reading fantasy and adventure books, and learned to read far above his grade level.

From a very young age, Diego’s friend circle was made up of mostly girls. He tended to be more comfortable with them as he was the only guy in his house, and much of his early childhood was spent playing with Sarah and Luzviminda. In elementary school, this led some of the boys in his class to bully him for his perceived femininity, which in turn, forced him to retreat further into his friend circle. His sister Sarah, who had adopted a headstrong personality like her mother, would protect him on the occasions she saw him being bullied, but most of the time, Diego opted to keep silent for two reasons. First, he feared retribution from his bullies if he told on them to either his mother or the teachers. Second, he saw the stress his mother was going through as a result of her multiple jobs and the expenses she had to deal with, and he decided that telling her about this would simply add more stress. This bullying intensified in middle school as his friends went to a different school, and his sister moved on to high school. As his bullies were all males, this solidified his apprehension towards males in general, as all the positive role models and figures in his life were female.

In 6th grade, Diego realized he was gay. This horrified him, as he distrusted males, but he could not deny the physical attraction he felt towards them. Also, his mother was conservative as a result of her faith and had expressed anti-gay opinions before, so he feared that coming out to her would result in him being disowned. Hence, he opted to stay in the closet and hoped that he would eventually find a girl that he liked.

He had a harder time making friends in middle school because of the bullying and his own awkward behavior. Diego had a hard time picking up on the rules of socialization, and while this hadn’t been an issue in elementary as his friends there generally accepted him, this caused him to stick out in middle school. He would alternately overshare and speak too much, or not know what to say at all and simply nod or laugh in the background. The former caused people to avoid him while the latter did not, so he started becoming more silent. This resulted in less bullying, as he was viewed as less annoying and a more boring target than other weird kids in the school. In addition, this allowed him to gain many acquaintances but few friends, since people saw him as a quiet but generally harmless kid that they saw no harm in having around. So, his position in middle school was being in the periphery of many circles but in the core of none. This saddened him, but at the time, he was just happy to not have boys bully him as much, and he saw his sister as enough of a confidant and friend to make up for the lack of friends he had in school.

One of the assignments Diego had in his English class was to write an essay, and Diego adored the task. He found that both essays and short stories were a satisfying outlet to all the negative feelings he stored inside, especially those he felt he could not disclose to his family or friends. In addition, he savored the opportunity of getting to create those new universes that had captured him in his childhood. He ended up buying a few notebooks and began to write his ideas inside. Up to now, he prefers writing fantasy and science-fiction stories, as these genres most capture the other-worldness that attracted him to literature

As Diego grew older, he was expected to do his part and help out around the house, especially as his sister had gotten a job to help out with the finances. While, like most teenagers, he detested most chores, he took a liking to cooking. He found the tasks required to prepare and cook the ingredients to be somewhat relaxing and calming, and he felt satisfied with his creations. He also enjoyed being able to lessen some of the work his mother had to accomplish, and cooking made him feel useful. Luzviminda had taken notice of his interest in writing, and also wanted to reward him for his generally good behavior. So, she saved up enough money from her jobs to buy him a laptop for his 13th birthday. This brought him great joy, as it made writing much easier.

One of the first things he did was find a writing forum where he could share his stories. On it, he found a few users who wanted to help him improve his writing. He quickly took to their company, somewhat disbelieving but also thrilled at the idea of anyone wanting to spend time with and help him. He joined a Skype chat channel with them and quickly found friends with the rest of them. He found that he was able to express himself more among them, and found socializing easier. He did not need to pick up on facial and social cues like in school, and he liked their sense of humor. A lot of his online friends were based in Europe, and Diego found that he only had time to go online late at night, after his homework and chores were finished. So, he started staying up later to talk with them. While he grew a bit drowsier and his eyebags started to grow, his body was able to adapt surprisingly well to the changed sleep schedule. It did not negatively affect his grades as much as one would expect. His mother noticed the eyebags and asked him about it, but he simply blamed it on a heavier academic load, an excuse she accepted.

In high school, he continued his position as the acquaintance of many, something he was rapidly getting tired of. Thus, on a whim and out of a desire to gain new friends in school, he joined the gardening club. It took him a while to pick up the hobby, but he came to enjoy it for many of the same reasons he enjoyed cooking. He found the tasks involved to be slow but therapeutic, and took pride in harvesting or growing the plants they made. He has also found companionship in the members of this club, and considers them to be the closest friends he has in real life.

While Diego was going through 12th grade, Luzviminda received a call from her mother in Manila, the first communication they had had in over a decade. She had called to inform her that her father had colon cancer and would most likely be dying within a few years. Luzvminda expressed her strong resentment over the ostracization she had endured over the years, but in the end, she relented and agreed to move back to the Philippines out of a strong desire to see her family again.

She announced this decision to Sarah and Diego. The former stated that she could not move as she was still going through college, and that she could support herself as a working student. In addition, she didn’t like the idea of uprooting her life in America so suddenly. This hurt Luzviminda, but she understood. So, this left Diego to decide whether he would stay with Sarah or move to the Philippines with his mother.

In the end, he decided on the latter, mostly out of a wish to start again. While the idea of being separated from Sarah causes him great pain, he views moving to the Philippines as a new start that would let him run away from all the problems he has here, such as his constant feelings of loneliness. Even with his new friends in the gardening club and online, he still feels that he does not completely belong to either circle and that it would not matter much if he left. He does not express this to either group out of fear of alienating the few close friends he currently has, but this feeling is one that persists, and has driven him to make this decision. In addition, the idea of moving to a new country somewhat excites him.

He realizes that he would probably encounter several of the same issues he encountered in Chattanooga. For example, homophobia is somewhat widespread in the Philippines, and the fact that his poor capabilities in speaking Filipino would make him stick out and probably leave him feeling out of place.

He has little prior knowledge of Filipino culture. In previous years, Luzviminda had opted to integrate them into American culture as much as possible out of anger at being disowned from her family. To make up for this, he has begun learning Filipino from his mother and from various websites, songs and movies available online. While he finds mainstream Filipino movies to be somewhat cheesy, as it mostly consists of formulaic romance and comedy movies, he considers them to be guilty pleasures. On the other hand, the Philippine music scene has a thriving indie scene which he discovered thanks to browsing on Reddit, so he has taken to listening to songs from that scene.

His dedication to learning about Philippine culture is a desperate attempt to fit in with the people he would meet if he moves there. He hopes that by doing this, he’ll be able to blend in more and finally find a friend circle that accepts him for who he is.

Diego does not hold a strong attachment to Catholicism, or any religion in particular. He has some resentment towards religion because of the homophobic views expressed by many faithful, including his mother. At first, he interpreted this as a hatred of Christianity, and considered becoming an atheist, but in the end, he discovered that he could not let go of his belief in God. He prays before eating and goes to church every Sunday, as obliged by his mother, but he does not place any particular importance on any religious rituals.

He has taken notice of the rather active love lives the gay men of Hunter High lead, and feels severe jealousy regarding this. He wishes that he could find a boyfriend, or at the very least, talk about his crushes to his friends and family, but he fears that coming out to anyone at all would lead to his mother finding out his secret. He tends to avoid interacting with them when possible, although this has proven difficult as some of the members of the gardening club are gay men. For these people he has made exceptions. In addition, he likes them enough as individuals to feel some degree of fondness for them, even if that is clouded by his own internal conflicts.

Likewise, he still has a bias against men but has made exceptions for the male members of the gardening club. He has not expressed these feelings to anyone at all for fear of ostracization, as these are feelings he too does not completely understand or know how to explain. It mostly manifests in him making friends or acquaintances with mainly girls, and feeling more comfortable around them. Around men, he does not understand social cues as much and always feels out of place, something that has caused much internal conflict. He finds straight men to be rather brusque, and he feels that he is too much of a wallflower to fit in with queer men. For a while, he wondered if he was transgender based on these feelings, as he felt he did not belong to the male gender in general. In the end, he realized that he was simply feeling an alienation from other men, and that he was secure in his own gender.

Luzviminda, for her part, has had a suspicion that Diego was gay based on the fact that his friends were almost all girls. While the idea also horrified her at first, she decided that she could live with it, and has quieted down on her views regarding homosexuality lately, something Diego has not noticed. She also did not want to disown him like her family. She has not confronted Diego about this, however, as she figures he would come out on his own time.

English literature courses tend to be Diego’s strong suit in school, as well as math. The former has been an interest for several years while the latter is something he has simply been good at since elementary. He does not particularly enjoy it, but it comes easier to him than most of his peers. He struggles most with social studies as the rote memorization often required in that class bores him and leaves him unmotivated. His grades tend to be straight A’s, with the occasional B+.

He has been accepted into a private college in the Philippines, with Luzviminda’s mother’s family willing to shoulder the costs now that Luzviminda is no longer estranged. He plans to take a course on creative writing, and while he wants to become a professional writer, he accepts that it is hard to find jobs in this field, so he will most likely enter law school after. He is unsure as to whether he will only stay in the Philippines for college, or if he will move back to America, so he has left that question for a later time.

His relationship with his sister Sarah is strong, as he views her as a protector figure and the second parent he never had, despite their small gap in age. Their separation is the one thing that keeps him hesitating on moving, but Diego is decided. They have mutually decided to enjoy the remaining time they have together as a family, so they have started going to more outings than usual.

Advantages: Diego has a working knowledge of which plants are edible and which are not due to his hobby. To those friends he manages to make, he shows great loyalty which will be valued in a group setting.

Disadvantages: His shyness and apprehension towards socialization will make it hard for him to gain allies. In addition, he has low strength due to a lack of physical activity in his daily routine and his small stature.

Designated Number: Male student No. 083

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Designated Weapon: Tactical Combat Shovel

Conclusion: Hey, the gardener got a shovel! That's just perfect, actually. You don't have to dig too deep, just enough to bury some decent fertilizer for if you wanna plant a garden while you're there. We've uh... got precedent for that sort of thing. - Shamino Warhen

'The above biography is as written by Maraoone. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Maraoone

Kills: 

Killed By: 

Collected Weapons: Tactical Combat Shovel (assigned weapon)

Allies: Christine Bright, Oliver Lacroix, Stephanie McDonald, Lorenzo Tavares

Enemies: 

Mid-game Evaluation: 

Post-Game Evaluation: 

Memorable Quotes:

Threads
Below is a list of threads containing Diego, in chronological order.

The Past:
 * Hiya sa Timog

V7:
 * Love & Money
 * before the day is done, my prince is gonna come
 * How Far I'll Go
 * Gimme, Gimme Shelter, or I'm Gonna Fade Away
 * no one round here's good at keeping their eyes closed
 * Still Waiting
 * Hell is Other People

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Diego Larrosa. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''